Spain's Perez sets women's half marathon race walk world record
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Athletics - European Athletics Championships - Alexander Stadium, Birmingham, Britain - August 15, 2026 Gold medallist Spain's Maria Perez wears a tiara and celebrates after winning the women's half marathon race walk REUTERS/Andrew Boyers
BIRMINGHAM, England, Aug 15 - Spain's Maria Perez established the inaugural world record for the women's half-marathon race walk with a time of one hour 30 minutes and six seconds when winning the gold medal at the European Athletics Championships on Saturday.
Perez's time was well inside the world record standard of 1:30:30 set by World Athletics in December, and the Spaniard claimed European gold for the first time since winning the 20 km-race in 2018.
Italian Alexandrina Mihai was second and Ukraine's Lyudmila Olyanovska took bronze, in the half-marathon race walk which replaces the 20-km race.
Perez already holds the world record for the 35-km event, which she set in 2023, and is a four-time world champion. REUTERS
